1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plated technology “patch” printed antenna, for operation with linear or circular polarization at frequencies of the order of a few gigahertz. In particular, the antenna is intended to be replicated in order to be integrated into an array for receiving and/or sending telecommunication signals on board a craft, such as a satellite in low earth orbit, or to be installed in a base station in communication with a telecommunication satellite, or to be installed in a base station for radio communications with mobile terminals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The invention is more particularly directed to a “patch” half-wave printed antenna including a dielectric substrate and two conductive layers on respective faces of the substrate. One of the layers constitutes a ground plane. The other layer is a rectangular or square conductive plate known as a “patch”. This kind of individual printed antenna is easy to integrate and has a low fabrication cost thanks to a simple machining process.
However, the electrical characteristics of the antenna depend considerably on the dielectric material of the substrate on which the two conductive layers are etched.
If the dielectric substrate is thin and has a high dielectric permittivity, the antenna is relatively inefficient and its bandwidth is narrow.
To obtain a more efficient antenna the dielectric substrate must be thick and consist of a material with a low dielectric permittivity. However, the antenna obtained in this way is significantly larger, which makes it difficult to integrate it into an array. Also, the radiation diagram of the antenna is less open.